“Sir, troops of Gajhin Orcs have been sighted South-West and West of the village!”

Castellan Julian Wuzan had been doing absolutely nothing of importance in his office, as per usual, only for one of his direct subordinate to rush in while gasping for breath.

Not even ten seconds later, the 1st and 2nd Captain of the Sky Battalions, respectively Jeff and Melina, barged in. The former was fiddling with his unkempt mustache as he sweated profusely within his small armor.

Melina, on the other hand, looked calmer than the rest but there were hints of anxiety within her eyes.

After saluting, she stated, “Three ogres have been spotted. Two of which are soon about to engage with the patrols. We need to act quickly, sir.”

“I’ll send some of my soldiers.” Added Jeff, who, despite hating Melina and always trying to remove her, willingly and without receiving order, was about to cooperate.

The Gajhin Orcs weren’t as numerous as the 1st and 2nd Sky Battalions combined, but they were still a threat. The ogres, especially, couldn’t be killed easily and if they made their way to the walls, things could get complicated real fast.

The most important thing was to eliminate all threats before the casualties ramp up. Unlike the Shadow Keep Penitentiary, the Skywall Fortress was part of the Global Azakin Empire, therefore, if Jeff and Melina failed to do their jobs and caused a real mess, they would be facing a lot of consequences. Julian too, would be reprimanded, but his societal status was high-enough to avoid shouldering all the responsibility.

Surprisingly, even at such a dire moment, the young Castellan was as calm and nonchalant as ever.

Julian pushed back his long brown hair, revealing the hideous scar across the right side of his face. He coldly smiled and unceremoniously waved his hand,

“Spare no effort in ensuring the safety of the villagers. The first priority is evacuating them, even if it means letting the orcs advance.”

“Sir! We cannot let them trample over the farms and slaughter the ani-”

Jeff was about to protest but Julian raised his hand, stopping him mid-way.

“I care not about the cattles and all that bullshit-ah.. Pardon my wording. The villagers come first, Jeff. We are soldiers and it is our duty to ensure public safety.”

He turned his head and looked at Melina, “You will take the vanguard. I trust in your ability to direct the soldiers and fend off those brutes.”

“Yes, sir!”

Melina didn’t linger there for an extra second. She rushed out of the office and, within minutes, she was outside along with hundreds of heavily-armored soldiers and even several mages.

“This could be a trap, Jeff.”

Once The Castellan and the Captain were left alone, Julian furrowed his brow and looked at the painting behind him.

“A trap? There’s no one bold enough to attack this place, sir.”

The fat captain bowed his head and responded, appearing confused by what he heard.

“The orcs or the ogres wouldn’t go out of their way to attack us like this for no reason. Just be careful and get ready to defend the fortress. Raise the barrier too. I want us to be ready for any eventuality.”

…

While things were getting chaotic outside of the Skywall Fortress, Selene Donkrig was meeting up with the Warden of the Shadow Keep Penitentiary.

Old man Bernard Capilla was sitting behind his exquisite desk and fawning over the gift he received from one of the heads of the ancient federation.

The silver revolver was truly a work of art, imbued with absurd quantities of energy. Bernard had yet to use it, but just by looking at the intricately-designed bullets, he knew this firearm was capable of causing unimaginable devastation.

Alas, his time alone was cut-off when Selene entered the office. As usual, she was scheduled to come visit her ‘lover’ today, but she was very early this time.

Still, Bernard didn’t pay it too much heed and, instead, welcomed her inside while displaying his broad and fake smile.

“Things are getting nasty outside.”

Bernard was oblivious to monster attacks, so when he heard her remark, he tilted his head.

“The orcs are attacking the village.” Briefely explained Zenzo, who stood behind the girl like a domineering and statue, his armor clanking every time he moved.

“Actually, I came here to ask you about something, Bernard.”

“Ask away, my lady.”

Selene had a sweet smile on her face as she crossed her legs and scrutinized the wrinkled visage of the Warden. She didn’t give him the time to inquire about the chaos unfolding outside.

“I still don’t know my darling’s situation and his connection with the South. Care to explain?”

Bernard was visibly startled by this question, which came out of nowhere. Up until now, Selene never seemed interested in her lover’s background and only cared about pleasing him.

“W-whatever do you mea-” The old man stuttered and stopped talking for a bit as he collected himself and regained his composure.

“I thought my lady didn’t care about his identity. I assure you he’s nothing but a-”

“Before you continue that lie, let me inform you that I did some digging myself.”

“...”

Bernard’s face turned slightly red as he lowered his head and maintained a momentary silence. He was deliberating whether to reveal what he knew or not.

In the end, he softly chuckled and continued his act of ignorance.

“I’m curious about what my lady has learnt. Your lover might be one of the few prisoners on the 6th floor, but that has nothing to do with his background. He’s locked there purely due to his outrageous strength, which could prove dangerous if unleashed.”

“That’s not what I heard, Bernard.”

Selene stood up and circled around the desk, approaching him while keeping her cheeky smile.

The elderly was disturbed by her behavior and leaned back instinctively, feeling a bit weirded out by her actions. Her intense stare made him uncomfortable as he averted his gaze, thus failing to see her inspect him from head to toe as if looking for something.

“I know you’re a smart person, Bernard. Surely… surely we can come to an agreement, yes?”

She leaned even closer and extended her hand, playfully poking his shoulder with her index finger.

“M-my lady…”

Rather than being enticed by her, Bernard didn’t want to provoke her or say something wrong, especially since Zenzo was still in the room.

“Didn’t we help each other already? There’s nothing wrong with adding more secrets, right?” She winked at him and whispered into his ear.

Selene went a step further as she put her hand on his head and caressed its back seductively, making his body twitch and jerk away. He was getting suspicious and a little creeped out, but that only lasted for a couple of breaths.

Selene’s hand grabbed the back of his head and slammed it right on the desk. When she heard him groan and tried to break free, she channelled one of artifacts in her hands and infused herself with more power.

Her second attempt broke his nose and made him drop unconscious, his body sliding down the chair and thudding against the ground.

Blood was pouring out from his nose and there were even two pieces of broken teeth.

“Did I overdo it?”

Zenzo solemnly shook his head and approached the unconscious Warden, searching all his pockets until he finally found a bronze and cylindrical object.

“Is this it?”

“So it seems, my lady.” He paused for a bit before saying, “We must deactivate the formations and leave with haste, my lady.”

Selene snatched the object from his hand and examined it with intrigue.

“What if… after all this, he fails?”

She stared at the Knight and ordered, “You’ll go to the lower floors and ensure he doesn’t.”

“My lady-”

“Don’t worry about me. Not even an Archmagus can kill me with all the artifacts I have on me.”

Even Zenzo couldn’t argue with that, nevertheless, he didn’t feel it was right to leave her right after she betrayed the Warden.

“I want my darling to get out of here in one piece! I’ll wait at the agreed spot. Don’t forget that Dad sent Driver Loak with me this time.” She giggled and took out a long black needle from her storage.

As she strolled out of the office, she pierced the needle into the artifact controlling the Anti-formations, causing it to break in pieces.

Almost instantly, there was a light tremor that assaulted the entirety of the Shadow Keep Penitentiary.

2nd underground floor

The Anti-magic formation laid on the ground let out a dim glow before it vanished entirely.

Arthur, who was in his cell, impatiently waiting for it to happen, immediately got to action.

The cell door was blasted, alarming the guards, but before they could even react, the green mist spread at a rapid pace, covering every corner.

The two guards in charge of this floor couldn’t breathe and fell to the ground.

The parasite used [Mind Blast] on one of them, killing him on the spot and then possessing him. He discarded Kezar’s body and continued using the Mist of Decay to shroud everyone’s visibility.

Gastin, who, like most prisoners, was freaked out by this, heard a weird clanking followed thereafter by the fall of an object near his feet.

“It’s your chance.”

It was the familiar voice of one of the guards, but Gastin knew who it really was. He picked up the keys with shaky hands, his face pale and lips quivering. Now that it was time to act, he actually got cold feet and didn’t want to risk his life.

Seconds later, the thick mist retracted back to the corridor and then disappeared from sight, leaving two corpses behind; Kezar and one of the guards.

Arthur picked his storage ring and rushed toward the elevator on the ground floor. Panic was ensuing as the prisoners were surprised and questioning this unfolding chaos.

There were a few guards on the way, but they were unprepared for the parasite. They could neither retaliate or cry out for help as the looming mist cascaded them like a tsunami, blocking their view and entrapping them.

Arthur was unstoppable as he didn’t drop his momentum. He disposed of any enemies on the way and, within a minute, reached the elevator.

In regained his human form and extended his hand, unleashing a burst of vermillion flames. The fire scorched everything and caused the creaky and old elevator to be destroyed within seconds.

He didn’t need it to travel to the lower floors as he could use [Mist of Decay] to glide down. His objective was to make sure the guards, especially the special ones, couldn’t use the elevator, thus making it impossible for them to reach the 5th or 6th floors.

Just as the elevator was enveloped by flames, part of its melted and the rest crumbled down, Arthur saw dozens of armed guards rush his way.

One of them muttered an incantation before shooting a thick lightning bolt at him, but it was blocked by [Sanguis Barrier].

With a flick of his hand, the barrier, which was like a thin and glowing wall, moved toward the guards at an outrageous speed; It crashed into them, sending them all flying to the back and knocking half of them unconscious.

By the time the rest recovered and got to their feet, there were no signs of the assailant. Some were confused to see a colleague behave like this, but the urgency of the situation made them disregard any feelings of camaraderie and simply try to either apprehend or eliminate the threat. What made things worse was that the situation outside of the penitentiary was pretty chaotic too.

The Warden, Bernard Capilla, was nowhere to be seen, but since the Anti-Magic formation was deactivated, the only logical conclusion would be that something had happened to him.

Some headed to his office while others spread across the lower floors to make sure the prisoners didn’t use this opportunity to riot.

The prisoners on the first couple of floors weren’t particularly good at wielding Mana, so the formations didn’t affect them a lot, nevertheless, the earlier tremor and the panicking guards were a clear indication that something went wrong, which would as a consequence incite the criminals to attempt a breakout.